BiggerPicture4Wake is a community-based organization that supports common sense
solutions that maximize efficiency and educational opportunities for all students.
We are an organization consisting of citizens, educators, professionals, and parents
whose objective is to help us all stay informed, generate "solid ideas",and encourage
citizens to participate in discussion positively and constructively.
Parents, students, teachers, and school administrators—many of whom were drawn to live, learn, work, and conduct business in Wake County, believe in the strength of its public schools.
We promote change by encouraging our leaders to:
Look closely at the facts and data.
Listen to all Wake students,parents,teachers,businesses, and education experts.
We bring an inclusive voice to issues surrounding Wake County schools.
BiggerPicture supports:
1. Maintaining Socio-Economic Balance in Wake County Schools.
2. Positive Parental and Community Involvement in School Board Direction &Policies
3. Increase High School graduation rates
4. Better prepare our students for a global economy.
5. Equitable resources and education for all students.
The biggerpicture about Wake County Public School System
- National school performance organization GreatSchools ranked Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) #1 in public schools for places with populations above 300,000.
- Twelve Wake County Public High Schools were just named to Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools for 2010. Only six percent of all schools in the nation make this list.
- WCPSS ranks second in the nation in the number of National Board Certified Teachers (1,702).
- Fourteen WCPSS schools were awarded with national recognition in 2010 by Magnet Schools of America—representing over 10 percent of the total awards handed out.
- WCPSS has the lowest per pupil expenditures of any school district in the nation with 100,000 or more students. It is widely recognized as a very cost effective system.
- Evidence points to growth and lack of funding as the root causes of WCPSS achievement missteps. Wake County receives less in funding than other districts in the state—it ranks among 82 among 115 school districts.
- This year's county budget for public education has stayed level, despite an additional 4,500 new students expected for this school year, which translates into a drop in per student spending. Adjusting for growth and inflation, county spending on education has been effectively cut in Wake County.
- When controlling for inflation, Wake County would need to raise $50 million per year in order to match education spending from 10 years ago.
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg spends $429 per pupil more in local dollars than Wake County. Funding WCPSS' 144,000 students at the same level would require an additional $60 million per year in local funding.
- Instead of looking at the root cause of our student achievement concerns, including insufficient local funding, WCPSS detractors are instead proposing plans—such as the creation of high poverty schools—that will not be palatable to the community for a variety of reasons. Among them include the high costs of recruiting and retaining qualified teachers and principals in high poverty schools.
- Of 40,000 parents from a board majority-commissioned survey—94.5 percent indicated their satisfaction with student assignment.
In The News:
Creating zones in Wake not so easy
Sunday's N&O has a front page story about the BOE's initial attempt to subdivide Wake County into community assignment zones. Btw, this story incorrectly states that 57 of the WCPSS's 161 schools exceed 40% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches. The correct number is 49 schools; Wake's four alternative schools are not counted. To determine where your current node will be, click here: http://wwwgis2.wcpss.net/cgi-bin/prod/mainscript/MainScript.pl.
Achievement Summit celebrates student successes
More than 250 educators, principals, community members, and teachers gathered on Fri., Aug. 20, at Athens Drive High School to hear how 12 Wake County Public Schools are closing achievement gaps. Unfortunately, the media did not cover this event, but you can read more about the summit here. To review WCPSS's data highlighted during the summit,
Why would you want to terminate a diversity program?
Rev. Barber and BOE majority member John Tedesco also debated the diversity issue on CNN
Wake scores up
"Wake County school leaders reported across-the-board gains today on state tests and a narrowing of the racial achievement gap," according to this N&O story and WRAL. A detailed breakdown of the test scores can been found on the WCPSS site.
In Our Community:
Diversity Statement
Chancellor W. Randolph Woodson of NC State University
Since my arrival at NC State University, I have expressed my desire to see this outstanding university soar to new heights. One way that we can begin doing this is through a collective effort to embrace diversity on our campus. As a land-grant university with a mission to develop future global leaders, one of our first priorities should be to create a campus environment that is conducive to innovation and groundbreaking research. We must create an atmosphere where individuals experience educational freedom and are comfortable learning and exploring. In order for this to be achieved, it is absolutely necessary for us at NC State to understand the importance of diversity and the role it plays in our lives. In this constantly changing world, new cultural boundaries are constantly broadening; new ways of thinking emerging; and new ideas unfolding. However, it is no longer enough to simply recognize these things. We must now fully embrace them with open arms. In order to achieve our university goals and to prepare students for the global workplace that awaits them after leaving NC State, we must create a campus climate and overall sense of global awareness that encourages and embraces all forms of diversity. We must remain committed to the collective pursuit of excellence through acceptance of both individuals and ideas that may be different than our own, for these are the items that will continue to move this outstanding institution forward. Here at the people's university, we welcome all people regardless of ethnicity, race, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, religion or disability. While these may be things we choose to identify ourselves as, they do not define us. Instead, we choose to be defined by our excellence and our commitment to growth. Because diversity is what makes our lives richer and gives us the chance to advance our university, NC State will continue striving to be more diverse in hopes of creating a culture that values empathy, respect, tolerance and equality for all. In doing this, we hope to serve as pioneers in a much larger way, paving the road for a more diverse and inclusive world - both at home and abroad.
Just The Facts:
(To learn more, please visit www.greatschoolsinwake.org )
Research shows high poverty schools have higher teacher turnover, higher principal turnover, lower student achievement, and higher costs. At 3.47 percent in 2008-09, WCPSS schools had the lowest dropout rate in six years, a rate lower than Charlotte/Mecklenburg and than the state average. The drop out rate declined for students of every race and ethnicity, with the largest improvements among Hispanic, African-American, and multi-racial students.
The dropout rate for black students is the lowest since 2003-04, and for white and multi-racial students it's the lowest since before 1999-2000.
WCPSS At A Glance
•
Enrollment 2009-2010 -- 139,599 students,
•18th largest school district in the nation, largest in North Carolina
•156 schools, including 51 year round schools (42 elementary and 9 middle)
Growth Drives Assignment: between 2000 and 2010....
•48 new schools (29 elementary, 9 middle, 9 high and 1 special/optional)
•48,000 new seats added, with 46,000 students reassigned
•50,000 more students in WCPSS
Busing is a smokescreen to mask the real issues
Bus rides in zones in Charlotte are longer than the bus rides in Wake County, and Mecklenberg .
•Average bus ride in Wake County is 20 minutes.
•Only 3 percent of our students are bused for diversity.
•The average Wake student spends less time on a bus than the average North Carolina student.
•If there were no growth there would be no reassignment.
Current direction of the School Board...
•leads to more reassignments, more instability, more chaos
•harms national reputation of Wake County as having a high quality of life
•creates overcrowded schools
•creates high poverty (80 to 90 percent poverty) schools
•denies research that shows student achievement declines in high poverty schools
Be present. Be informed. Be heard!
2010 BOE Parent Calendar Survey
Wake County County Commissioners
All CC meetings are open to the public.
Wake County Board of Education.
All BOE meetings are open to the public.
